Jeni felt good. She'd managed to sneak in a workout this morning, after not having time to do anything physical in a while. Although it was somewhat painful (and she was certain later it would be sore) at the time, the after effects of the exercise were wonderful. After a shower and a fresh duty uniform, she was back behind her desk, sipping on a hot coffee from her usual silver travel mug. "Colonel," the Gunny's voice broke through, "BGen. Lance is here, as requested." "Please, let her in," Jeni replied, taking another swig from her mug before setting it down and calling up the appropriate data on her screen. Reaching for a small, fresh PADD, she placed it down and transferred the relevant information to it, as the General entered. Anakah stepped into the office, and offered a salute to Jeni, "Good morning, Colonel." "Morning, General," Jeni replied as she stood, gesturing the chair, "please." Anakah nodded as she took a seat, "Thank you. What's the news?" "We have some unsubstantiated reports of additional Marduk activity.. but this time, it's from civilian shipping lines," Jeni began, passing the General the small PADD while diving right into the matter, "it could be regular pirates or something of that nature, but I want to be prepared, just in case. What kind of defense can a regular civilian freighter put up against any sort of space borne attack and boarding?" Looking at the pad, Anakah furrowed her brows, "Travel in groups of three or more would be a start. If it's just pirates, they'll look for easier targets first. Marduks might, as well. At least initially. They may gain confidence after a successful attack, and try riskier operations. Escorted convoys would be the least appealing target, I would think." "What kind of vessel could the Marduk have gotten a hold of without any major parties knowing about it?" Jeni asked, not sure if the General knew the answer but asking anyway since it came to mind. After all, Marduk weren't exactly wealthy business moguls or any other established ship-needing organization. Most ships able to take on any sort of combat, if stolen or pirated, would have been reported. Non or lightly armed freighters, maybe not, but something capable of fighting? Surely.. Lance shook her head, "That's a good question, Colonel. If they've taken over ships that are capable of overpowering freighters..." Lance trailed off then shook her head, "The only thing I could see is that they either infultrated a group of pirates, or somehow managed to overpower such a group to gain control of their ship. It seems unlikely, but then again, not much of the scenario before us seemed likely before we got notice." "Is it possible to mount captures like this without a heavily armed ship?" Jeni asked, "I mean, if I needed to take a civilian shipping freighter, I'd sneak in with shuttles, one big bang to lower their shields, and then assault inside with Marines." Everyone knew Marines were well trained, but then again, so were the Jem'Hadar. A Marine was smart enough to think and improvise out something like that, but Jem'Hadar? Maybe.. You didn't need a heavy battleship to take out civilian targets, only military ones. Lance wrinkled her nose. It wasn't a very "general" like thing to do, but it summed up what was going through her mind, "Thinking that way, I bet you could overcome a civilian freighter with as few as ten men....and I know a few teams that could do it with five." Heaving a sigh as she considered other options, "I definitely think traveling in groups, and under armed escort would be the best case scenario. I know that's not always an option, so the next best thing...respond to distress signals, and unknown shuttles with extreme caution." Jeni huffed slightly before responding, "Work up something in writing. We don't have the manpower to escort convoys, and besides it's not where we're good at. Starfleet, however, might have some spare hulls. Work out a security plan for civil shipping lanes and convoys in the affected areas, as well as a response plan for us. I was heading over to MGen. Scott next anyway, we'll figure out what we've got in terms of resources for something like this." There wasn't any proof yet, but so far they'd been working with worst case scenarios, and being prepared as best they could for them. If they never ended up needing those plans, it would be just as well, but if they did.. Jeni would rather they have them ready to put into action. Once again, it was an attempt to prepare in advance, and avoid any nasty incidents of "pants around ankles". Anakah nodded, "I'll get that report to you ASAP." The back of Lance's mind was already working on what measures she'd put in place if she had all the resources she needed, as well as what might work nearly as well with fewer resource demands. She could tell it was going to be a hefty report. "Anything else, Colonel?" "No, General," Jeni replied, shaking her head. She wondered if she'd ever get used to 'commanding' more senior ranking officers. At this rate, probably not.. and maybe that was a good thing. She wasn't about to start dismissing Generals of any rate, and so far, there were only a handful of awkward moments. The professionalisim was excellent. Anakah offered a salute, "Then I'll get started on the report." She smiled before turning on her heal and heading back to her office.